Dataset Information

Multiple Approaches Detect the Presence of Fungi in Human Breastmilk Samples from Healthy Mothers.

ABSTRACT: Human breastmilk contains a variety of bacteria that are transmitted to the infant and have been suggested to contribute to gut microbiota development and immune maturation. However, the characterization of fungal organisms in milk from healthy mothers is currently unknown although their presence has been reported in the infant gut and also in milk from other mammals. Breastmilk samples from healthy lactating mothers (n?=?65) within 1 month after birth were analyzed. Fungal presence was assessed by different techniques, including microscopy, growth and identification of cultured isolates, fungal load estimation by qPCR, and fungal composition using 28S rRNA gene high-throughput sequencing. In addition, milk macronutrients and human somatic cells were quantified by spectrophotometry and cytometry. qPCR data showed that 89% of samples had detectable levels of fungal DNA, at an estimated median load of 3,5?×?105 cells/ml, potentially including both viable and non-viable fungi. Using different culture media, 33 strains were isolated and identified, confirming the presence of viable fungal species. Pyrosequencing results showed that the most common genera were Malassezia (44%), followed by Candida (19%) and Saccharomyces (12%). Yeast cells were observed by fluorescence microscopy. Future work should study the origin of these fungi and their potential contribution to infant health.

SUBMITTER: Boix-Amoros A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5638952 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Multiple Approaches Detect the Presence of Fungi in Human Breastmilk Samples from Healthy Mothers.

Boix-Amorós Alba A Martinez-Costa Cecilia C Querol Amparo A Collado Maria Carmen MC Mira Alex A

Scientific reports 20171012 1

Human breastmilk contains a variety of bacteria that are transmitted to the infant and have been suggested to contribute to gut microbiota development and immune maturation. However, the characterization of fungal organisms in milk from healthy mothers is currently unknown although their presence has been reported in the infant gut and also in milk from other mammals. Breastmilk samples from healthy lactating mothers (n = 65) within 1 month after birth were analyzed. Fungal presence was assessed ...[more]

PMID: 29026146

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Project description:Recent reports have shown that food-borne or commensal bacteria can function as reservoirs of antibiotic resistance. However, the antibiotic susceptibility of bacterial isolates of most milk samples or the total bacterial counts (TBC) in human milk from healthy donors, are not fully understood in Taiwan. Thus, five healthy mothers were randomly recruited each month, and totally 30 mothers without any symptoms of infection were recruited over 6 months. Milk samples were then harvested and analyzed immediately after collection. The antibiotic susceptibility was analyzed in bacteria isolated from milk samples using nine clinically relevant antibiotics, such as oxacillin, ampicillin, cephalothin, amoxicillin, ciprofloxacin, erythromycin, clindamycin, gentamicin, and oxytetracycline. The Staphylococcus strains (48 isolates) found in milk resisted to 48.6 ± 20.1% selected antibiotics. Streptococcus-related isolates (8 isolates) exhibited resistance to 41.7 ± 26.4% selected antibiotics. Acinetobacter isolates (5 isolates) were resistant to 66.7 ± 13.6% antibiotics, and Enterococcus isolates (5 isolates) were resistant to 73.3 ± 6.1% tested antibiotics. Rothia-related isolates (4 isolates) were resisted to 58.2 ± 31.9% of tested antibiotics. In contrast, Corynebacterium isolates (5 isolates) were sensitive to 66%-100% of selected antibiotics. Furthermore, the TBC ranged from 40 to 710,000 CFU/ml, implying a wide spectrum of bacteria in milk from healthy mothers. Despite this, all milk donors were healthy during sampling, and they did not show any symptoms related to mastitis or subclinical mastitis. According to the previously described TBC criteria for the use of donated human milk, only 73% of the current milk samples could be accepted for the milk bank. In conclusion, the majority of the isolated bacterial strains from current human milk samples are multiresistant strains. In milk samples for preterm infants or milk banks, higher TBC levels or potentially antibiotic-resistant bacteria in some milk samples have supported people using approaches to disinfect human milk partially.

Project description:Surfaces within the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), especially those handled frequently by hospital staff, provide sources of gut-colonizing bacteria for hospitalized infants, in addition to those acquired perinatally from maternal sources such as breastmilk. In comparison to bacteria, very little is known about potential sources of colonizing fungi in the NICU setting. Thus, the objective of this study was to characterize fungal communities (mycobiomes) of potential colonization sources for neonates hospitalized in a large university NICU. We hypothesized that the unit surfaces would contain different mycobiomes than those of human-associated (breastmilk) sources. We characterized mycobiomes of NICU surfaces of multiple individual patient care areas as well as those of breastmilk samples by sequencing the internal transcribed spacer region 2 (ITS2) of the fungal rDNA locus. We found that, across all samples, Candida and Saccharomyces species were the most prevalent taxa and had the greatest relative abundances. Breastmilk samples had significantly higher fungal alpha-diversities than NICU surface samples and fungal community compositions (beta diversities) differed significantly between the two sample types. Mycobiome compositions were predominantly driven by the relative abundances of three fungal taxa: Candida albicans, Candida parapsilosis, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In total, 21 individual fungal taxa showed significantly greater relative abundances in breastmilk as compared to NICU surfaces, with three being of particular interest to human health: Candida glabrata, Candida tropicalis, and Cryptococcus neoformans. Since no fungal DNA was detected when whole breastmilk was used as the DNA template, as opposed to breastmilk subjected to cell lysis during the DNA isolation procedure, our results indicate that DNA is from fungal cells and is not cell-free DNA. In summary, both NICU surfaces and human breastmilk harbor distinct fungal communities that could provide a source of fungi for the developing infant gut mycobiota. In particular, Candida and Saccharomyces species are abundant and prevalent for both of these potential sources that infants are exposed to.

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Multiple Approaches Detect the Presence of Fungi in Human Breastmilk Samples from Healthy Mothers.

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Multiple Approaches Detect the Presence of Fungi in Human Breastmilk Samples from Healthy Mothers.

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